Thread-board lifter.



0. L. OWEN.

THREAD BOARD LIFTER.

APPLlCAHON FILED 06131. 1910.

Patented Aug. 24, 1915. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

0. L. OWEN.

THREAD BOARD LIFTER.

APPLICATION men ocnsa. mo.

Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

191519384 2 sum-sum 2.

- board rails or thread-guide supports of spii'i ning frames sothat they can be easily lift I, ed or turned up for dotting and will" remain v so close'to the'plane of'the spindles that con venienceofatcesstothe latter requires that mit adjustment of the lifting'moment of.

OSCAR L. ownn, or WHITINSVILLE IMASSACifLUETTS, As'sIeNoR TO THE wm'rm MACHINE WORKS, or WHITINsVILLnMa'ssAcI-I UsnT'rs-A oonromrrolv 0F MAS- sAcHUsErrs.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, OSCAR L. ow'm citizen of the United States of America, residing at Whitinsville, in the county. of

The invention consists in an improved means for coimterbalancing' the' thread" lifted until intentionally replaced. The object of the invention is more espe -j cially to provide such counterbalancin g means with provisions whereby the counter poising part will change its relation to the fulcrum of the lifter lever, so that'itwill' be ineffective to raise the rail when the latter is in its normal or horizontal "position,

but yet will sustain the weight thereof when the same has been lifted, and cushion its return to normal position, andfalso to per:

the lever to serve rails or threadguide supports of different lengths and weights, or

rails having different types of thread; guides or other attachments supported by? them.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is'a perspective view of'a portion of a spinning frame showing the thread-board rail equipped with an embodiment of thisinvention and also showing the spindles; Fig. 2

is a transverse sectional view ofthe roller' beam and thread-board, railindicating the operation of the invention. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the lifter lever unmounted and the shifting counterpoise. Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate transverse sectional views of a modified form; Fig.- 6 a detail of the-con 'struction thereo The thread-board rail ,1 in the present instance is formed of metal having a fiat top plate and a rearflange 1 like an ordinary angle-iron bar and is hinged, to the front edgeror face of the roller-beam. by means of several hinges 3 so that itacan'swing as shown in Fig. 2, suitable?suppoi-ts: being provided on the roller-beam forfsustaining it in horizontal or working osition,

Specification of LettersPatent. I te t d. Application filed Oct'oter 31, 1910 seri l a 589,920. a

rHREAn BoAnnIQIr'Tnn;

Aug. 24, 1915.

withfor isubstantially its full length, but may be formed in one or more horizontal sectlon'sias desired, depending upon convenieii'ce and the number of spindles served. Atat's forward'marginthe thread-board rail carries the thread-guides -4.Which include the, us11'al wire= pig-tail guides 5 through which the'yarn passes and is guided to the :traveler-ringsof the spindles in the usual manner; and as indicated in Fig. 1. The

wire guides are-directly over or'in alinement with the spindles" when the rail is in its worlnng'posltion and the thread-board rail 11pon wh1ch the;guides are mounted is thus the: rail 'and--attached parts be turned upwardlykand. out ofthe way when it is deasi'redatd 'dolfthe spindles and at such time it is desirable" that the rail shall, of its own accord,-Ifemainin its elevated or" lifted position" until replaced in its horizontal or working position by the attendant, and that the return can be efiected by the attendant at any point along the length of the rail,

without requiring the operation of any .hol'es, as, shown) at? in Fig; 1," so that its position on the beam can be vadjusted. The pin 8 carried in theforwardly projecting ears' of this bracket 6 constitutes the fulcrum for the lifter-lever 9 by which the counterbalancing elfect isimparted to the thread-board rail, The; forward arm of the lifter-lever extends outwardly and upwardly from the fulcrum toward the under side of the thread-board 'railwhere it is adapted 'to engage, either directly with the under surface of thefrail, as late-r described, or with a 'suitahle'bearing-plate or "block 10,

secured thereto, or with some other connecting part controlling the swinging movement ofthe rail and g'ui'des'." The otherarm of the lifter-lever 9 extends-inwardly from the fulcrum 8,'under' the roller-beam and forms the support for the shifting counterpoise 11 which thepresent instance is a; rolling tached parts upon the end of the outer arm of the lever, but when the rail is turned on lifted to its raised position such as indicated by the dotted lines in the same figure, the pressure on the outer arm of the lever is released and the inward arm falls, under the weight of the counterpoise, to the dotted line position of downward inclination and the counterpoise thereupon rolls toward the opposite end, increasing its leverage, so that If now the thread-board rail is released, the

pressure it will exert on the outer arm of the lever will not be suflicient to restore the lever to its former position. The rail will thus be held lifted until sufficient additional pressure is brought to bear, as by the hand of the attendant, to restore the arm to its upwardly inclined position and the counterpoise to its position of least leverage effect. As the return of the rail must be made against the weight of the c'ounterpoise, and as the inertia of the latter compels it to take up its rolling motion rather slowly, it will be evident that slamming of the threadboard rail and consequent disarrangement of the thread guides or injury to the rail is rendered impossible. In the present instance, the end of the outer arm of the lifter lever is provided with a rounded nose or tip which is adapted to slide on the under side of the thread-board rail or the bearing plate 10 thereof, as the lever swings on its fulcrum.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the bearing plate 10 is provided with a lug or stop 12 which limits the sliding movement of the end of the lever and thereby stops the upward movement of the thread-board rail before it reaches a vertical or rearwardly inclined position, so that the thread guides 5 are thus prevented from. swinging backwardly over the roller-beam, where they might strike or interfere with the delivery rolls, and just in front of the lug the bearmg plate is provided with a notch or seat indicated at 13 in Fig. 2, which retains the tip of the lever in engagement with the stop,

preventing recoil therefrom and prescribing a definite lifted position for the rail.

' Any form of shifting or rolling counterpoise will be suitable to effect the variation n the lifting moment of the lever, provided t is adapted to move easily and freely on its support. The form of counterpoise shown in the drawings is particularly desirable, however, since it can be made with any desired mass suiiicient to counterbalance a long and heavy thread-board rail or section thereof, without encroaching on the space within the spinning-frame devoted to other parts thereof. This counterpoise consists of a body of metal having its longest dimension disposed lengthwise of the roller beam and centrally divided by a deep annular groove 11 so that it will fit saddle-fashion on the lifter lever, resting and rolling thereon by its central waist portion or reduced diameter. The front flange of the roller beam 2 serves to stop the motion of the shifting counterpoise when it rolls toward the fulcrum and its motion away from the fulcrum is stopped by an abutment 1 4 which has a cushion face 15. This abutment is adapted to be adjusted Iongitudinally on the lever so that the mainmum distance of the counterpoise from the fulcrum can be varied when necessary to increase. or diminish the moment of the lever in accordance with the weight of the thread-board rail to be sustained. One or several lifter levers may be used for each rail, the adjustable stops thereonvbeing set so that the rail will be just sufficiently overbalanced, when lifted, to be maintained safely in that position, and sufliciently counterbalanced, when horizontal, to be lifted easily.

' In Figs. 4 and 5 the construction is the same as that previously described except for the connection between. the lever and the thread-board rail. In this modified form the outer arm of the lifter lever 9 bears directly-against the under side of the angleiron form of thread-board rail, and the rear flange 1 of the latter serves as the abutment sto lev r thereon is limited, and the rail sustained in a prescribed lifted position. The rounded end of the lever is adapted to enter a detent recess 17, like the recess in the hearing plate 10, and when in this position a finger 16 on the side of the arm engages the rear-flange 1 to limit the sliding, movement, as clearly shown in the drawings. The detent recess 17 is a shallow groove 17 milled out of the under side of the thread-board rail, as shown in Fig. 6.

It will be understood that it is within the range of ordinarymechanical variation to substitute a tension spring for the force of gravity in the device above described.

I claim as my invention the following:

1. A thread-board lifter for spinning frames comprising a lifter-lever fulcrumed beneath the thread-board rail with one of its arms arranged to lift the rail and the other extended inwardly therefrom, and a shifting counterpoise carried by the inward arm andnormally capableof moving alongthe lever arm to vary the lifting moment of the lever and by reason of its inertia to prevent slamming of the thread-board.

2. A thread-board lifter for spinning frames comprising'a lifter-lever fulcrumed beneath the thread-board rail, a counterpoise normally shiftable on the lever to vary the lifting moment thereof and by reason of the said lever movable thereon by the movement of the rail, from a position in which it overbalances the pressure of the rail to a position in which such pressure overbalances it.

4. The combination of a thread-board rail for spinning machines, a lifter-lever engaged therewith,. a cylindrical weight having a peripheral groove for engaging the lever and a stop adj ustably mounted on the lever for limltmg the mo tion of the weight along the lever.

5. The combination of a thread-board rail for spinning machines, a lifter-lever engaged therewith, and a rolling weight mounted on the lever, the radius of the roll ing surface of said weight being less than the distance from the axis to the outer portion of the weight.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

OSCAR L. OWEN.

Witnesses:

Roxanna: L. MnTo'ALr, Onnsrnn O. LAMB.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 0.?

midway between its ends- 

